For many years, the need for a physician and other type of worker to illuminate his work area (where fine work is to be done) has been supplied by the use of a concave mirror with a central axis aperture for the physician to look through. At times the normal room light has been supplemented by a high-intensity incandescent light associated with the mirror. With the advent of fibre-optics, it has been common practice to bring the light down to the desired work area by use of a fibre-optic cable that is attached to the head band of the apparatus. It has recently became more and more important that the image of the work area be made available for observation by students and for keeping a record of the operation. Since the surgeon's head blocks any view from behind him, a television camera or movie camera necessarily had to operate from the side and, of course, could not possibly see the same image as the surgeon. With many situations (where the operation is taking place deep within a body cavity, for instance) a television camera located at the side does not see any of the manipulation involved in the operation. It has been suggested that a television or movie camera be attached to the headband adjacent the illuminating means, but the suggested constructions for doing this involved a number of problems. First of all, having both the illumination and the camera directed at the work area is a problem, since the work area can change in various respects. Furthermore, the width of conventional equipment means that a large object must be inserted between the surgeons eyes, so that he has to move his head around to observe his work area. Often only one eye at a time would be able to look at the operation site. Furthermore, it would be desirable if, during the operation, the surgeon were not only able to send a picture to a remote station of the operation in color, but also to describe verbally what is happening. Not only could this be used for instruction purposes, but also for making a record of the operation for use in a possible malpractice suit or the like. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a headlight capable of not only illuminating the work area, but also transmitting a video image and an audio signal to a remote location for use in instruction and recording.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a headlight for surgeons in which a visual image and sound transmittal takes place without the need for attention by the surgeon.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a headlight including a combination illumination, T.V. transmittal, and audio transmittal apparatus, in which the surgeon only need adjust the illuminating means and the other functions perform automatically.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide a medical headlight in which illuminating means and image transmittal means are arranged so that they do not block the surgeon's view.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of a surgical headlight which is simple in construction, which is economical to manufacture, and which is capable of a long life of useful service with a minimum of maintenance.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a headlight in which the illumination source, image transmission, and audio transmission are combined in apparatus which is relatively narrow, so that vision is not obstructed when the apparatus is located between the eyes.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a headlight in which the illumination area and the image pickup area remain coextensive despite substantial adjustments relative to the headband.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.